How do I pair my bluetooth device?

Asked by Alexander Rødseth

I'm having problems pairing up my mobile bluetooth device under Ubuntu. This worked previously, and as I recall after much time spent browsing, there's a bug somewhere in the chain of bluetooth utilities (bluez-pin). However, I assume that a workaround exists, hence this question.

Here are the packages I have installed:
ii bluetooth 3.9-0ubuntu4 Bluetooth stack utilities
ii gnome-bluetooth 0.8.0-0ubuntu4 GNOME Bluetooth tools.
ii kdebluetooth 0.99+1.0beta2-2+3v1ubuntu0 KDE Bluetooth Framework
ii kdebluetooth-irmcsync 0.99+1.0beta2-2+3v1ubuntu0 IrMCSync Konnector for kitchensync
ii libbluetooth2 3.9-0ubuntu1 Library to use the BlueZ Linux Bluetooth stack
ii libmultisync-plugin-irmc-bl 0.82-8build1 Adds Bluetooth support to the IrMC plugin
ii bluez-cups 3.9-0ubuntu4 Bluetooth printer driver for CUPS
ii bluez-gnome 0.6-1ubuntu3 Bluetooth utilities for GNOME
ii bluez-pcmcia-support 3.9-0ubuntu4 PCMCIA support files for BlueZ 2.0 Bluetooth
ii bluez-pin 0.30-2.1ubuntu3 Bluetooth PIN helper with D-BUS support
ii bluez-utils 3.9-0ubuntu4 Bluetooth tools and daemons
ii python-bluez 0.9.1-1 Python wrappers around BlueZ for rapid bluet

Here is my /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf:
#
# HCI daemon configuration file.
#

# HCId options
options {
 # Automatically initialize new devices
 autoinit yes;

 # Security Manager mode
 # none - Security manager disabled
 # auto - Use local PIN for incoming connections
 # user - Always ask user for a PIN
 #
 security auto;

 # Pairing mode
 # none - Pairing disabled
 # multi - Allow pairing with already paired devices
 # once - Pair once and deny successive attempts
 pairing multi;

 # Default PIN code for incoming connections
 #passkey "1234";

 pin_helper /usr/bin/bluez-pin

}

# Default settings for HCI devices
device {
 # Local device name
 # %d - device id
 # %h - host name
 name "%h-%d";

 # Local device class
 class 0x3e0100;

 # Default packet type
 #pkt_type DH1,DM1,HV1;

 # Inquiry and Page scan
 iscan enable; pscan enable;
 #discovto 0;

 # Default link mode
 # none - no specific policy
 # accept - always accept incoming connections
 # master - become master on incoming connections,
 # deny role switch on outgoing connections
 lm accept;

 # Default link policy
 # none - no specific policy
 # rswitch - allow role switch
 # hold - allow hold mode
 # sniff - allow sniff mode
 # park - allow park mode
 lp rswitch,hold,sniff,park;
}

I have tried having a /etc/bluetooth/pin as well.

When I plug in my usb bluetooth-dongle, it works as expected (dmesg):
[ 6426.201695] Bluetooth: HCI USB driver ver 2.9
[ 6426.260335] usbcore: registered new interface driver hci_usb

The "hcitool scan" commands work perfectly fine, and my bluetooth-device shows up with address and name.

So, how do I pair it? I've tried "bluez-pin" following the address of my device, but I'm having problems understanding the command-line syntax and possibly if and how I should use --dbus. If possible, I would prefer a window showing up asking me for the pin-code. I've tried the "xhost +"-trick as mentioned in connection with this problem on the web, but it doesn't work for me.

Any help is appreciated!

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Ubuntu bluez Edit question
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Alexander Rødseth
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Best Alexander Rødseth (alexanro) said :
#1

I found a way:
1. Do a "hcitool scan" to get the address of the device you wish to pair
2. Start "trayer" and then "bluetooth-applet"
3. Do a "hidd --connect 00:00:00:00:00:00" where you use the address you found instead
4. The bluetooth-applet will ask you for the pin and the mobile device pairs up correctly!

Good luck, hope this helps someone else. :-)

Revision history for this message
Alexander Rødseth (alexanro) said :
#2

This page might help as well:
http://hublog.hubmed.org/archives/001441.html

/etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf is worth spending some time on if you're still stuck

Revision history for this message
brittomail.com (meetbrittohere) said :
#3

if i am trying to install a blue tooth software means it shows error. what to do?
here is the error...
~# sudo apt-get install gnome-bluetooth obexserver bluez-utils
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package obexserver

Revision history for this message
Alexander Rødseth (alexanro) said :
#4

Hi, what happens if you just don't install obexserver? It's been a few years since my answer, so many things may have changed, but I don't see a mention of obexserver in the text above.

Revision history for this message
brittomail.com (meetbrittohere) said :
#5

what are all the packages needed to connect bluetooth with ubuntu.

On 6/30/11, Alexander Rødseth <email address hidden> wrote:
> Question #8379 on bluez in Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bluez/+question/8379
>
> Alexander Rødseth posted a new comment:
> Hi, what happens if you just don't install obexserver? It's been a few
> years since my answer, so many things may have changed, but I don't see
> a mention of obexserver in the text above.
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>